Little Ones
by GennaWeasley
Summary: Percy and Nico both go to Percy's sister Addi for some advice about the people they've fallen for. I swear on the River Styx that it's a better story than this summary may lead you to believe.


_A/N - this is a companion to my other stories "Crossing Over" and "Like Normal Kids"__. It kind of falls somewhere between those two stories, but it can also stand alone if you don't feel like reading those._

_...there's an explanation of who Addi is at the bottom of this story.  
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_The title refers to the fact that Addi often calls Percy "Little One" or "little brother" and occasionally calls Nico "little cousin" or "little Nico" or other things that seem like nicknames for a little kid._

Nico and Addi were sitting on Addi's bed in the Poseidon cabin. Technically the two of them shouldn't have been alone in the cabin together, but everyone had kind of gotten tired of telling them when they were breaking rules – it's not like they ever _listened_. Addi put her arm around Nico comfortingly as he spoke.

"… It's just really difficult," Nico was saying.

Addi nodded sympathetically. "I know, sweetie, I know."

Nico glared at her. "Addi, don't call me sweetie. I'm not 3."

"Priscilla is one of your closest friends," Addi said semi-seriously, trying not to giggle at the codename.

Nico chuckled. "Why did you have to pick _that_ name?"

"Because we only talk about **her** like this when you're upset," Addi replied. "And moments like this are when you most need to laugh."

Nico smiled and hugged Addi. "Thanks, Addi," he mumbled.

"Addi?" a voice called from outside – Percy. "Addi, where are you?"

Nico froze. Before responding to her brother, Addi whispered, "Now would probably be a good time for you to leave, Nico." Nico nodded and vanished into the shadows. Addi grabbed a book before saying, "I'm in the cabin, little brother!"

Percy walked into the cabin. "Addi… I know we haven't known each other very long, but I need someone to talk to and Annabeth's… Annabeth."

"Of course we can talk, Percy," replied Addi. Percy sat down next to Addi, sitting in the spot that Nico had just vacated. "What's up, Little One?"

"Don't call me that," Percy said, "I'm 17."

"Alright," said Addi. "Okay, Percy, what's wrong?"

"You know how Annabeth and I broke up a while ago?" Percy said quietly.

Addi nodded. "You still like her?" she guessed.

Percy shook his head. "I… I've moved on. But I think this is worse." Addi didn't say anything; she just tipped her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. Percy continued, "I like someone else… but they don't feel the same way. They'll never feel the same way…"

Addi put her arm around Percy, exactly the same way she had recently put her arm around Nico. "Do you mind telling me who it is? I mean, I could always figure it out, but that'd kind of feel like an invasion of your privacy."

"N-Nico," whispered Percy. Addi gasped quietly. Percy continued, "I-I know it's not what you'd expect, but…"

"Oh, you'd be surprised, Little One," Addi said so quietly it was barely audible.

"But it's really awful because he's never going to feel the same way," continued Percy.

Addi didn't respond immediately – she was busy trying to figure out how to tell her brother that he really did have a chance without betraying her best friend's trust. _What are the odds of this happening?_ She thought, _my best friend and my brother not only falling for each other but coming to me for advice?_

Finally, Addi said, "Don't give up hope, Percy. You never know."

"Yes, I do know," replied Percy. "He likes some girl – and don't deny it, Addi, I've heard you two talking about her."

It took a lot of effort for Addi to keep a serious expression on her face. _If only he knew…_ She noticed some movement in the shadows and hoped that Percy hadn't seen it.

"Percy," she said, as a sudden realization came to her, "I'd love to talk about this with you at this moment, but you have a sword fighting class to teach. Right now."

Percy checked his watch. "Oh my gods, I'm late for class!"

Before he could run off, Addi grabbed his hand and said, "Percy, I promise that we will talk about this later."

"Thanks sis," Percy replied.

"Any time, little brother," said Addi. Percy left the cabin.

Addi flopped back onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, before saying, "How long have you been there, Nico?"

Nico stepped out of the shadows. "I-I never left."

"I know," whispered Addi.

"Then why'd you ask?" asked Nico.

Addi sat up and looked over at her cousin. "You heard the whole conversation?"

Nico smiled. "Yes. But now what do I do? I can't exactly say 'oh yeah, I overheard your conversation with your sister. Wanna go out with me sometime?'"

Addi giggled. "No, I suppose you can't. But you _can_ stay in here with me until Percy's class is over and he can just overhear us talking about him."

"He has before, Addi," Nico pointed out. "And it upset him."

Addi giggled. "Well we won't call him Priscilla this time, will we?"

"Alright," agreed Nico. He climbed up to where she was sitting and rested his head on her shoulder. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Nico said, "Addi, did you plan this all out?"

"Do you want me to be honest?" replied Addi.

Nico replied, "When do I ask and expect you to lie?"

"When you ask if everything will work out and both of us know there's a good chance it won't," answered Addi honestly. "I still always say yes."

"That's not an answer to the first question, Addi," Nico pointed out.

"I suppose not," agreed Addi. She was silent for a moment before adding, "Nico, there was no way I could've planned this."

"How am I supposed to believe that?" responded Nico. "No one can hide anything from you. It isn't possible!"

Addi lightly pushed Nico away from her. He shifted so he was facing her and she answered, "You and Percy trust me. I choose to ignore the things that you two don't tell me because I know that if it's important, you'll tell me. I really didn't know he liked you until he walked in here a few minutes ago and told me."

Nico moved next to Addi again and put his head on her shoulder again. "Would you have told me?" he said quietly.

"I didn't tell Percy you like him," she replied.

"That's different though," he pointed out.

"I suppose so," agreed Addi. "I don't think I would've told you. I probably would've shoved you two into the Hades cabin, locked the door, yelled 'TALK NOW' and prayed to Aphrodite that if anything happened it wasn't on my bed."

"Addi!" exclaimed Nico. He laughed a bit.

"As it is, I didn't know," Addi continued. "But if you don't do anything it'll just get worse. Nothing will change, little Nico, and every time you see him it'll be like someone stabbed you in the heart and you'll probably regret it forever – believe me," she paused for a moment, "I know."

She sniffled. Nico hugged her. "Addi, are you crying?"

Addi shook her head. "I'm fine Nico." She sniffled again. "We were talking about you and Percy."

"Why were you talking about Nico and me?" Percy asked suspiciously.

Addi gasped and jumped over the safety rail on the bed and landed gracefully on the floor. "Ooh, Little One, it's not what you think…"

"Please explain," her brother replied. He was about 4 inches taller than her, and at that moment it really showed.

"You know, Percy, _I_ really shouldn't," said Addi. She was about to leave when she paused, turned around and said, "Nico, tell him. Everything. If you don't, I'll know. I'm locking the door like I said I would. And I _swear_, if you don't get off of my bed before you start explaining, I will **MURDER** you, Di Angelo!" She laughed and walked out the door. She slammed the cabin door behind her and the boys heard the lock click.

"What in Hades was she talking about?" asked Percy.

Nico jumped down from Addi's bed and landed a little less neatly than his best friend had. _Where to start?_ He said, "She wants me to tell you something, okay?"

"What?"

"I…" Nico started. He had to pause and work up the nerve to tell Percy – even though he knew that Percy felt the same way. "A few weeks ago I told Addi that…"

"That what?" asked Percy nervously.

Nico took a deep breath. "I told her that I've had a crush on you since I was 12." Percy's eyes were wide. "And, uh, I was talking about it with her earlier… But then you came looking for her, so I hid…"

"Oh gods," Percy muttered. "You heard me tell her that I like you… didn't you?"

Nico nodded. "After you left, Addi told me that if she had known earlier she would've locked us in the Hades cabin and yelled 'TALK NOW' and – I swear this is a direct quote – 'Prayed to Aphrodite that if anything happened it wasn't on her bed'. "

Percy rolled his eyes and said, "That sort of explains what she said…"

There was an awkward silence where it was pretty obvious that they were both thinking _what now?_ Nico glanced toward the window, out of which he could see Percy's black haired older sister talking animatedly with Rachel Dare. If Addi had still been in the cabin with them, she probably would have shoved Nico toward Percy and said "Go on, little cousin, Kiss Him!" Wow, his best friend had really worked her way into his head.

"So, uh," began Percy.

Nico took a step forward and stood on tiptoe so that his face was even with Percy's and kissed him. Then he took a small step back and said, "Percy, do you want to go out with me sometime?"

Percy smiled and said, "Yeah, sure. We could see a movie or something this weekend."

Nico kissed him again. Just then, the door opened and Addi and Rachel walked in.

"…must be in here, it wasn't in the Hades cabin," Addi was saying. The two of them stopped walking when they saw Percy and Nico. The boys stepped away from each other and looked at Addi and Rachel uncomfortably. Addi grinned and hugged them both. "I knew everything would work out if I locked you in a cabin together!" Percy and Nico chuckled. Addi continued, "But, little ones, if my best friend chooses to spend all of his time with my baby brother and none with me, I will injure you."

Rachel laughed. "Addi, maybe we should just find the book and leave them for a while."

"Fine," replied Addi. "Percy, have you seen my copy of And Then There Were None?"

Percy shook his head, but Nico answered, "I thought you were reading it in the Hades cabin in the middle of the night last night."

"I did too," replied Addi. "But it's not there." She climbed up to her bunk and found the book half under her pillow. She grabbed it and climbed back down. "Okay, now we can leave."

Addi and Rachel left the cabin, but only after Addi had turned around and said, "Nico, remember what I said before!"

Percy and Nico laughed as they left.

It was a few days before Annabeth realized that Percy and Nico were dating. No one knew that Annabeth hadn't known until she popped into the Hades cabin looking for Nico.

"I just heard the most ridiculous rumor from the Aphrodite kids," she said.

Addi, who had been lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling, sat up and looked at Annabeth. "Did you? What was it? I suppose you weren't looking for me, but tell me anyway."

"Elliott Spencer tried to convince me that Percy and Nico are dating," Annabeth replied. She laughed a bit, but stopped when she realized that Addi wasn't laughing – just staring at her blankly. "What?"

Addi commented, "I thought you and Percy had stayed friends when you broke up."

"We did," replied Annabeth.

"Then I wonder why he didn't tell you," Addi said, more to herself than to Annabeth. "... Or Nico. Or Rachel."

"So it's true?" asked Annabeth in surprise.

Addi nodded. "Yeah. And I'd avoid the Poseidon cabin for a bit right now, I walked in to grab something and they were making out…" she shuddered. "That's why I'm in here. I swam for a while, but I can't really do any camp-related activities without the other member of either the Hades cabin or the Poseidon cabin… or both."

"No, I suppose you can't – everything's kind of group based, isn't it?" Annabeth said. Addi nodded. Annabeth continued, "Well, uh, I should get back to my siblings, we're supposed to go train in the arena soon."

"See you later, Beth," replied Addi. Annabeth left the cabin. Addi, finally realizing just how bored she was, vanished and appeared on her bed in the Poseidon cabin. She buried her face in her pillow before shouting, "BOYS, I'M BORED AND THE POSEIDON CABIN IS SCHEDULED TO BE AT THE LAKE RIGHT NOW. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, STOP AND GO CHANGE."

The two boys laughed and did as they were told.

_A/N - I'm going to take a minute to explain Addi a bit. She's a character I came up with for another story involving the Percy Jackson characters. As far as that story is concerned (and this one as well), she's Nico's best friend and for quite a while was really uncomfortable around her little brother Percy and at one point temporarily moved to the Hades Cabin (it's a complicated explanation for why she got away with it) which is why she has a bed in both cabins. _

_I hope you liked the story! Please review, reviews help me improve my writing!_


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